Apparatus for purifying waste water.



N0. 636,497. Patented Nov. 7, I899.

J DELATTRE. APPARATUS rm: PURIFYING WASTE WATER.

(Application filed June 13, 1899.)

(No Model.)

mzmai'e 61:

H: Nonms PETERI OO.,PNOTO-LITHD..WASH1NGTON D c p UNITED STATES ATENTFFICE.

JULES DELATTRE, OF ROUBAIX, FRANCE.

APPARATUS FOR PU RIFYING WASTE WATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,497, dated November'7, 1899.

Application filed June 13, 1899.

T0 whmn it 11mg concern:

Be it known that I, J ULES DELATTRE, spinner, a citizen of the Republicof France, and a resident of Roubaix, France, have invented a new'anduseful Improvement in the Purification of Waste and Impure Waters,Particularly Such Waters as Contain Greasy Matters, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the purification of waste andimpure waters, particularly such waters as contain greasy matters, likethe residual water from woolscouring and other industrial processes.

My invention can also be available for purifying water in rivers andstreams which contains only a small quantity of greasy matters. It is,in fact, impossible to purify such water by means of the ordinaryprocesses, which are made inefficient on account of said proportion,however small it may be, of greasy matters.

It consists in a combination of apparatus constituting an installationwhich effects the purification under the following conditions: The foulwaters are first treated with sulphuric acid or other suitable acid orchemical equivalent under such conditions that an abundant deposit isprecipitated, which contains the fatty matters and the impurities. Thisdeposit in the state of slime is treated by a solvent of fattymatters,which carries off the latter, which are afterward separated bydistillation. The slimes which remain after the removal of fatty mattersare treated in a filter-press and thus form cakes which are employed asmanure.

With regard to the waters acidified and separated from the deposit bydecantation, they are neutralized by lime under such conditions that asecond deposit is precipitated, which is treated in a filter-press, andthus brought to the state of cakes, which constitute a manure. Thewaters separated from the second deposit by decantation, and which areneutral or slightly alkaline, are thus completely purified and madewithout inconvenience to be run into the river.

The installation which I have devised for carrying out this method oftreatment in the most favorable manner, both from the technical point ofview and from the economical Serial No. 720,400. (No model.)

point of view, is represented, respectively in vertical section and inplan, in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings. The water isdirected to a channel a by a pump 1). In the first place, said pumpcauses a head of liquid which permits an overflow of a speedcorresponding to the requirements during the whole process. In thesecond place, said pump insures a regular feeding of the water to betreated, so as to permit to obtain an economical and perfect working,especially as far as the acidifying is concerned. As soon as it leavesthe pump the foul water is mixed in the channel with a certain amount ofsulfuric'acid supplied by the tanks 0. This acid must reach the water ina well-divided state, which can be obtained, for instance, by means ofperforated lead plates or pipes, so as to insure a perfect mixture.Besides, in order to complete the mixture the water arrives downward toa cylindrical receiver cl, where it is stirred by an agitator e.Itleaves the tank at the bottom and ascends in a vertical conduit f,wherefrom it overflows in a channel g. From this channel 9 the acidifiedwater passes into tanks, such as 1 2 3 4: 5 6, where they settle, andwhich facilitate the deposit of all the matters which precipitate,drawing with them the fatty acids which have been set free. Said tanksare accordingly settling-tanks. The acidified water is admitted in thefirst settling-tank as a sheet which overflows along the total .width ofthe tank. Owing to the considerable width of the sheet of water thespeed is very slow, so that the deposit is left for the greater part inthe first tank. The water then overfiowsin the next tank, and so on,issuing from the last tank nearly clear, but slightly acidulated.

The working of the tanks is methodical that is to say, each of themserves successively as first or receiving tank for the acidified water.For this purpose the tanks are arranged in the following manner: Thewalls or partitions between them are provided at the top with grooves15, in which can be insorted removable planks h of about two-thirds of afoot high, which act as overfalls. The channel 9 is formed along oneedge of the tanks and is provided in front of thepartitions with gates gg A delivery or exit tanks.

channel j is formed along the opposite edge of the tanks and is alsoprovided with gates j 3' in front of the partitions.

When it is desired to introduce water in the tank 1 and deliver it atthe end of tank 5, the overfalls h are placed as shown in Figs. 1 and2-6. e. at the inlet of the tank 1 and at the outlet of the tank 5-andthe gates g and j -are raised. The water then circulates as indicated bythe arrows, and the slimes mixed with greasy matters settle in the tanks1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Meanwhile the slimes which were previouslyaccumulated in the tank 6 descend into the well a: through the channela, the gate u being open. WVhen the tank 1 is sufficiently filled withgreasy slimes, it is isolated in order to evacuate said slimes into thewell or through the gate a and the channel a, and the tank 6 serves aslast settling-tank. For this purpose the gates a g 9' are closed andplanks, such as h, are introduced into the grooves in the partitionbetween tanks 1 and 2, the plank on the side of tank 1 being a littlehigher than the plank on the side of tank 2. Besides, the planks hbetween tanks' 5 and 6 are taken away and one plank is placed on theleft wall of tank 6. If the gates 9 3" are then opened, the waterarrives to the tank 2 and is delivered at the outlet of tank 6, and soon, the overfalls it being always placed at the inlet of the first tankin work and at the outlet of the last tank and the'overfalls of theintermediate tanks being taken away in order to allow the water to passfreely from one tank to another. As when leaving the last tank the waterdraws yet along some light particles, it passes through a filter i,which is constituted simply by placing wood fibers or any other suitablefiltering material in the channel formed between the planks h, asclearly shown in Fig. 2. When leaving the filter '5, the water passes inthe channel j, where it receives a milk of lime, which is supplied fromthe cisterns 7c. The water then passes into a stirring apparatusl andthen into a series of tanks-such as 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and l2disposedexactly like the settling- This milk of lime is intended to neutralizethe acidulated waters in the said tanks 7 to 12 before sending them tothe river. As the acidity is very weak, the quantity of lime will bevery small and the deposit will be little important. Accordingly theneutralizingtanks may be less in number than the settling-tanks. Saidneutralizing-tanks work exactly like the settling-tanks, with the sameoverflows, and filter at the outlet, and the mixing of the water withthe milk of lime is done exactly like the mixing with the acid; but woodor other suitable pipes are substituted for lead pipes. From said tanksthe water is sent to the river completely purified and neutralized.

The number of settling and neutralizing tanks may vary according tocircumstances.

The deposits of acid slimes evacuated as aforesaid into the well w aresent by means of a pump o into an extracting-battery m m, where thegrease is methodically taken off by means of a current of benzin.Bisulphide of carbon, alcohol, ether, oil of turpentine, or any othersolvent of greasy matters may be used. It is to be remarked that in theextracting-battery the recovery of grease is effected upon liquid slimesand not upon greasy earthy matters previously pressed and dried. WVhenthe slimes are deprived of benzin, they are sent into a tank 0, whenceby means of a pump 19 they are passed through filter-presses q, wherethey are formed into cakes which constitute an excellent manure. The benzin, saturated with grease, is passed through a distilling apparatus 1",where it separates from the recuperated fatty matters.

In order to obtain in the extracting-battery a more effective workingand to diminish the size of this battery instead of sending directly thegreasy earthy matters from the settling-tanks 1 2 3 in theextracting-battery m m it is advisable to send them first into a mixingapparatus 8, where they are mixed with the solvent. When the mixing isaccomplished, after a short rest alarge quantity of the water separatesfrom the greasy matters. It is then drawn off from the lower part of themixing apparatus. What remains in the mixing apparatus 3 is then sent tothe extracting-battery m m.

The slimes deposited in the neutralizingtanks are evacuated in a well yexactly like the acid slimes are sent into the well so. The slimes aretaken in the well 3 by means of a pump .2, which passes them through abattery of filter-presses y, where they are formed into cakes which canbe used as manure.

I claim- In a plant for purifying waste or impure waters, thecombination of a channel a and means for supplying thereinto anacidifying agent, a pump 1) for delivering into said channel the waterto be purified, astirring device e, a series of settling-tanks 1, 2, 3,4:, 5, 6, a filter i placed at the outlet of the settlingtank which isfor the time being the last of the series, a channel j for the receptionof the water from said tanks and means for supplying milk of lime tosaid channel, a mixing apparatus l, a series of neutralizing-tanks 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, and an extracting-battery m for recovering the greasefrom the slimes from the settling-tanks, the latter tanks beingseparated by means of partitions to which are fitted removable planks 7Lforming overfalls, all substantially as herein described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname, in presence of two witnesses, this 2d day of June, 1899.

JULES DELATTRE.

Witnesses:

ALFRED C. HARRISON, LoUIs L. ALEXANDRE.

